Who killed JFK? Rep. Schweikert wants to release all classified records on assassination
Every record related to the Nov. 22, 1963, assassination of President John F. Kennedy would be released in unredacted form under a bill introduced by an Arizona member of the House of Representatives.
Rep. David Schweikert, R-Ariz., introduced the Justice for Kennedy Act of 2025, which would force U.S. security and archival officials to release all records on the murder of the 35th president.
Schweikert introduced the bill to the newest session of U.S. Congress to reveal what he described as thousands of records that remained outside the public’s knowledge of the assassination.
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“Freedom of information is more important than vanity. The only way we can have a functioning republic is if we have access to information, and sometimes, that includes the potentially uncomfortable truth,” Schweikert said in a written statement.
Schweikert wants Americans treated ‘like adults’ on JFK assassination
Nearly 3,000 documents that are part of Kennedy’s assassination record are partially redacted, and 515 are completely withheld from the public, according to a report from USA TODAY, a number Schweikert referenced.
“The moment we begin to treat our country like adults is when they will start to trust in American institutions once again,” Schweikert said.
Schweikert noted the 61 years that have passed since Kennedy’s 1963 assassination as evidence of an overdue explanation and the need for a release of all records.
The majority of Americans question the official narrative surrounding the assassination, that Kennedy was shot and killed while in a Dallas motorcade by a lone sniper.
Sixty-five percent of Americans in 2023 believed Lee Harvey Oswald worked with others to pull off the assassination, in contrast to 29% who agreed with the Warren Commission that Oswald alone was responsible, according to a poll by Gallup.
While more than half of the country believed a conspiracy may be afoot, the belief was at its highest between 1976 and 2003, dropping by about 10% in the past 20 years.
What would the Justice for Kennedy Act 2025 accomplish?
If passed, the bill would require numerous federal agencies and officials, including the National Archives and Records Administration, the CIA, the FBI, the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of State, to “Publicly disclose in unclassified and unredacted form any assassination record and information in their control or possession relevant to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy,” Schweikert’s office said.
The Department of Justice would have to unseal any records tied to the assassination attempt, even in foreign courts, but only if the bill passes both the House and Senate and is signed into law by the president.
History of Kennedy’s assassination record release advocated for by politicians
In October 2017, President-elect Donald Trump ordered the release of additional records tied to the assassination, according to the National Archives.
Trump asked officials to minimize the number of redactions, but while some records were released, many were still withheld as the former president cited national security concerns.
Some of those newly released records revealed Oswald’s potential connection to the CIA and KGB.
In 1992, the National Archives created the John F. Kennedy Records Collection, which consisted of more than 5 million pages of records. Archive officials said, “The vast majority of the collection has been publicly available without any restrictions since the late 1990s.”
Kennedy’s nephew, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is Trump’s choice for Secretary of Health and Human Services in his new Cabinet.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Who killed JFK? Rep. Schweikert wants to release all classified records on assassination
